Uses: think about where you
want to use the images. Your primary purpose might be to get some press photography for newspapers, magazines and in newsletters, but you may also need them for large
format print such as banners, in bus shelters or on the side of vehicles, and
on your website where landscape format and the ability to place text over the
image will make life easier for your designer. All of these uses might need a
different approach but an experienced commercial and PR photographer will guide
you on that.
Style: your photos might
need to fit with your existing corporate style. Give your photographer as much
guidance as you can on what style you are looking for, for instance is the feel
you want to achieve fun and funky, or serious and corporate - Coca Cola style or
IBM? I’m not suggesting you ask
your photographer to copy anyone’s work, but giving them a flavour and feel of
what excites you is useful. If you find that hard to put into words why not create
a mood board on Pinterest. I’ve turned up on jobs in the past to find the client
still establishing what style they want, and that can be a waste of everyone’s
time and the client’s money.
Liability: check your professional photographer has the right public liability and professional indemnity in
place. See my earlier news story (link), about the importance
of having the right cover. Consent forms are something else to consider. It
depends on the type of shoot but it is always wise to make sure you have people’s
consent, for instance particularly on shoots involving locations such as care
homes, schools, etc.
Delivery: I usually deliver the photos between
one and three days after the shoot, unless the client has specified an urgent
press or print deadline, which I’m happy to meet. A shoot with up to 200 shots
can take quite a while to process properly and I like to take the utmost care
at this stage. Tell your photographer what format you want your pictures in. Large
format print work might call for large TIF files, but for most uses a high-resolution
image of around 4MB will be fine. I use three platforms to send the results to
clients - Dropbox, Hightail and We Transfer . Or I can deliver via email or
drop the images onto a memory stick or disc if that’s what the client prefers
Invoicing: Make sure your
brief details who should be invoiced (include post and email contact details),
and whether your photographer needs an order number.
A little planning at the
outset will help your photographer get the best possible results from the
photoshoot. And when my clients are happy, so am I.
This is the second year in a
row that I’ve been asked to photograph the Redcar Sprint Triathlon in NorthYorkshire. I’m an experienced sports and events photographer used to working at venues like Gateshead Stadium,Middlesbrough football ground and the official BHF commercial photographer in Newcastle’s Great North Run, so I’m very familiar with being in several places at once, in order
to capture all the action.
Organised by Trihard Events
in partnership with Redcar and Cleveland Council, the Redcar Sprint Triathlon is
a swimming, cycling and running race, with entrants taking on a 750m swim
followed by a 20km cycle race and 5k run.
This gruelling event takes
place on Redcar Esplanade and sees entrants dive into the sea next to the
Dundas slipway, then run back to the transition point, collect their bikes and cycle
along The Seafront between Zetland roundabout and Majuba Road, doing six laps.
They then ditch the bikes and run a 5k lap along the seafront heading for
Marske, turning just after Green Lane and then racing back to the finish line.
Fortunately the triathlon transition
area and the seafront made a great area for a panoramic view of the action, and
in some spots I was able to take pictures of runners and cyclists from one
vantage point, as they passed each other.
The Middlesbrough Gazette
estimated that 200 people gathered for the event, and I guessed that around 170
were actually taking part. They were of all capabilities and ages from about 20
to late 50s too, not just elite athletes. It was great to see people challenge
themselves, setting their own personal best and pushing themselves as hard as
they could.
With the Redcar Beacon and the
Palace Hub forming a colourful backdrop to some of the shots, the sun shone and
the blue sky was contrast to the black wetsuits and lime green swimming caps
distributed by the organisers. One of the joys of sports and event photography over the North East is all the contrasting colours people wear, whatever type of sport they are
doing, that adds to the impact of the pictures.
Because I knew people would
be spread out over the course and particularly for the shots of the swimmers, I
had taken my latest piece of kit the 1.4x convertor along fixed to the Canon 70 -200mm F2.8 IS, which proved very useful. In total I had two camera bodies and a
set of lenses in my lightweight bag, to give me a great choice at the edit stage.
The whole event is done at
speed and is over and done with in just over an hour so I had to work quickly
to get all the pictures I wanted. The local press hailed the
event a great success, and I was pleased to have captured the spirit of the
occasion, and the efforts of the contestants.
A recent commercial photography job saw me photographing across all of the Tees Valley, for my client Local
Enterprise Partnership Tees Valley Unlimited.
Tees Valley Unlimited works to
deliver jobs and economic growth across the Tees Valley, an area of 304 square
miles, which is located between North Yorkshire and County Durham, stretching
from the mouth of the River Tees through to Darlington.
This was a wide-ranging photography project
that needed a lot of planning to structure a large number of shoots in
different locations, and each with a different focus. I spent hours putting
together a comprehensive plan to detail not just the type of commercial photos I would
take, but how I would carry out this complex project, and I believe this was
one of the factors in my winning the work.
My first job was to sit down
with the LEP team to talk about the Tees Valley commercial photography project, and what they wanted
to achieve from it. This was a useful stage - getting to know the client and
their objectives is the most important part of a job and happens long before I
pick up a camera.
My brief covered key areas across
Tees Valley and nine specific topics ranging from photographing wind turbines in the North Sea and trains to people and places, all designed to promote Tees Valley as a great
place to work, live and do business.
I also needed to factor in
both landscape and portrait shots, plus some with the space for designers to
overlay text if needed. The images will be used across the LEP’s new website,
its marketing literature and could feature on large format outdoor spaces such as
buses and billboards or used as canvas prints in meeting rooms, so the photo
library had to be extremely versatile.
Wide ranging projects like
this that include a lot of outdoor photographs are governed by changeable
weather, and I did a lot of early mornings and late nights. At one point I photographed Middlesbough from Eston Nab in the dark and I can tell you I’ve never come down a hill so
quickly.
The pace was fast and I
remember one Sunday shoot that started at 4am and finished at 4pm and as I
rounded off the day by taking photos of people enjoying themselves on Seaburn
beach I was pretty much exhausted.
Every day was different and
I covered a 100's of miles. I might start off with an early morning photography shot at Hartlepool, then move on to photograph apprentices at a chemical plant at
Wilton in Billingham before calling at Darlington Railway Station to photograph business people getting on and off trains, and finish by photographing aircraftshots at Durham Tees Valley airport near Darlington.
One of my favourite leisure shots
from this job was one of a mature chap simply standing looking at the beautiful Saltburn coastline. A perfect lifestyle shot, this reminded me what a little gem the Tees
Valley is, and I realised I was not alone in thinking this when I tweeted from my
Twitter account @charnleyphoto
that ‘Teesside is not full of smog’ and it got 34 retweets.
I love being a North East
photographer. We are blessed in this region with beautiful coastline and
countryside, presenting a fantastic commercial photography chance to showcase Teesside towns such as Darlington, Middlesbrough, Stockton, Hartlepool and Redcar, plus traditional villages like Norton, Yarm, BIllingham and Eaglescliffe.
It’s an incredibly beautiful part of the world,
I’ve lived here for 18 years and I still keep on discovering areas I’ve never
seen. The great thing about being a professional photographer is being able to
help people see familiar sights with a fresh eye, and I hope my work has
achieved that aim for Tees Valley Unlimited.
In view of all the
photography jobs needing pin-sharp close ups in venues where it is hard to get
close the subject, I’ve recently invested in a fantastic high performance telephoto lens, a Canon 300mm f2.8L IS. The optics are stunning, the quality of pictures is breathtaking in their crispness,
helped by an image stabiliser minimising camera shake keeping the focus staying rock solid, even in
low light conditions.
 |
| Redcar Sea Front |
Along the way in my 30-year
background in press and commercial photography I’ve picked up the North East Sports Photographer of the Year and photographed a series of national and
international rugby and football matches. My new lens will make specialised jobs
like this, where I need to get close up shots while standing yards away, much
easier.
I’ll predominantly use it to
photograph events such as this year’s Nova Great North Run, where I'm officially booked or the River Rat
Race as these are fast-paced events where you have one chance to get the
perfect shot. I photographed Mo Farrah at a Great North Run two years ago, but I
suspect even the ‘gentleman of running’ is unlikely to go back and do a stretch
again for photographic purposes if someone turns up without the right kit for
the job.
Because the new lens in
effect knocks the background out of focus, I’m looking forward to using it for
commercial photography and nature shots too. I’m really enthusiastic
about its uses - horse racing at Gosforth Park, motorsport events at Croft
Circuit in Darlington, activity shots for outdoor brands such as Berghaus and Go Outdoors –
the list of potential jobs it can cope brilliantly with is endless.
 |
| Redcar Trunk Road |
Successful outdoor
photography can dependent on the weather, and can involve several
visits to a location to get the right conditions. I don’t know whether I’m pleased or not that my new sports
lens can shoot in appalling weather and still generate stunning images. I
foresee some cold, wet winter shoots this year, but as long as I get the shot,
I’ll be happy with that.
Year after year camera
equipment gets smarter and faster – although sadly, the cost never seems to go
down at the same rate - and I’m pleased that I’ve made continuous investments so
that whatever type of photography I’m doing, whether it’s a commercial photography job in North Yorkshire,
outdoor events or a large business award event in Harrogate, I’ve got the right range of camera
equipment for the job.
Combined with my compact studio
lights and kit, I’ve got everything I need and it can all be carried
on the go from job to job too.
The end result is that no
job is impossible – try me!
Date, time and location
should be the starting point, plus contact details on the day in case of any
problems. If it’s an event, detail the names and titles of any VIPs, and the
running order so the photographer knows where he needs to be at what point.
Remember to think about whether he needs a security pass, or protective clothing.
I’m used to taking commercial photographs at many of North East and Yorkshire’s chemical and pharmaceutical plants, factories and production environments so I always
take my own protective gear with me, just to be on the safe side.
Delivery: I usually deliver the photos between
one and three days after the shoot, unless the client has specified an urgent
press or print deadline, which I’m happy to meet. A shoot with up to 200 shots
can take quite a while to process properly and I like to take the utmost care
at this stage. Tell your photographer what format you want your pictures in. Large
format print work might call for large TIF files, but for most uses a high-resolution
image of around 4MB will be fine. I use three platforms to send the results to
clients - Dropbox, Hightail and We Transfer . Or I can deliver via email or
drop the images onto a memory stick or disc if that’s what the client prefers
Invoicing: Make sure your
brief details who should be invoiced (include post and email contact details),
and whether your photographer needs an order number.
A little planning at the
outset will help your photographer get the best possible results from the
photoshoot. And when my clients are happy, so am I.
